Mothering

February 15, 2011

.: Noticing my oldest son playing marbles while a very interested kitten looks on :.

As mothers we do not receive a standard handbook that tells us exactly what to do or not do. Rather we live alongside our little ones while our homes and our family organically becomes a reflection of who we are together.

.: A moment later the kitten strikes and marbles roll over the wooden floor :.

There may be moments in our younger years that stand out to us. They may even serve as markers in our own lives with our own children today.

.: Noticing beauty in the ordinary, extraordinary part of the day :.

I can remember specific feelings of the warmth of home as a younger girl while babysitting-- a home filled with little treasures from nature and the harvest of the gardens sitting on the counters still flecked with soil. It had that beautiful mix of a lived in home - evidence of children and of life that reflected so much love.

As a younger girl playing house for the day while acting as a mothers helper I remember dreaming of having children of my own as I grew older and what that would be like.

.: Appreciating my son's ear for music as he freely plays what comes to mind :.

I feel so grateful for the family that I now have and that we are able to live and learn at home alongside one another creating our very own life, following and creating our very own dreams, we get to choose just what our philosophy for our own life may entail.

.:Noticing a beautiful vignette while the music still lingers in my heart:.

This journey together as a family is rich and good, it is lived in and full with life. There is beauty in the everyday - the small and big moments, the creative and organic vignettes that fill our days in both the good and the more difficult.

.: These sweet friends eat our veggies, create their own compost, create fiber for us to spin and most of all share their love :.

Clotheslines, composting, and backyard chickens. Learning alongside one another at home and growing some of our own foods. Trading in television for making art together, caring for one another, dreaming of having sheep and farm living, knitting and spinning and reading "Little House On The Prairie" at bedtime while creating our own little houses on the prairie or apartments in the city or little houses on islands in fields or in the woods... wherever it is that your life inspires you to call home fill it up with love, mindfullness, and notice the life that surrounds you.

.: Noticing a sweet vignette left behind after opening presents on Valentines Day :.

We only live these days, moments and life once, just once never to be repeated in exactly the same way.

I am thankful to share moments of our family life with you. I also enjoy seeing moments of your own journeys. However vastly different or very closely knit our ideas may be lets all follow our dreams together. Say yes to life--to the life we always dreamed of for our families even when things may be placed in the way.. go for it anyway.

.:Appreciating bits of nature that creates this personal space we call home:.

Embrace this thing called life that sometimes gets in the way but continues to happen to us every day. From the small and mundane to the great and profound lets say yes and embrace life for all that it gifts to us!